This invention relates to a translatory shock absorber for mounting attitude sensors and more particularly for mounting instruments which are used to measure the rotation of space vehicles and the like. The shock absorber is made as a hollow block with rigid sides which are joined to the top and base portion by flexing grooves which are machined at the junctions and act as flexible hinges to reduce the translatory vibration without introducing any rotational affects through the shock absorber.
The instruments used for attitude control in space vehicles must survive a vibration environment of approximately 50 m/sec.sup.2 RMS (root mean square averaged over 0-1000Hz) acceleration levels which are generated by the combustion process of the engines and turbulent airflows about the vehicle. Rugged instruments were therefore developed and have been flown successfully in our space vehicles even without employing shock absorbing mounts which could have reduced vibration levels for the attitude sensors. Hard mounts were preferred, because common shock mounts add rotation effects which convert translatory vibrations to rotations and also introduce dynamic response which could jeopardize the vehicle's stability.
Devices have been developed for mounting and supporting precision instruments as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,949 for providing limited rotational movement between the supported device and the mount or supporting member to compensate for vibrational loading and environmental changes. However, these devices do not effectively isolate the instrument from translatory vibrations without introducing rotational affects through the mounting device.